by George Schroeder, USA TODAY Sports

by George Schroeder, USA TODAY Sports

The NCAA slapped mid-major basketball power Saint Mary's College with four years probation and suspended coach Randy Bennett for five games next season for failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance after uncovering major rules violations by a former assistant coach involved in international recruiting

In a report released Friday morning, the NCAA's Committee on Infractions prohibited Bennett from off-campus recruiting during the current academic year after he was found to have "failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance and failed to monitor" the former assistant's recruiting activities, both during and after the assistant's time on staff, as well as a series of impermissible offseason workouts.

"These were all red flags," said Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky, who is chairman of the NCAA's Committee on Infractions, during a teleconference.

Saint Mary's, which has developed into a consistent NCAA Tournament contender during Bennett's 12 seasons, did not receive a postseason ban. But the penalties were significant, including public reprimand and the loss of two scholarships in each of the next two seasons. Additionally, the Gaels are barred from foreign tours for three years and from in-season tournaments for the next two seasons. The school won't be allowed to conduct offseason "skill instruction" workouts with players for the next two seasons.

In a statement released by Saint Mary's, Bennett said the report "fails to include important mitigating information and tells only part of the story. I'll continue to review the report and consider my options." He also called the penalties "clearly excessive."

Saint Mary's president Ronald Gallagher said in a news conference the school accepted the findings but might appeal the penalties. Mark Orr, the school's athletic director, told the Associated Press: "It does not taint what I think of Randy Bennett as a person or as coach or his commitment to remain at the program and what he has done for Saint Mary's."

The former assistant coach was not named, but the biographical information contained in the infractions report matches that of former Saint Mary's assistant Keith Moss. The former assistant, who worked for a sports agent before moving to Saint Mary's â?? as did Moss â?? was charged with unethical conduct and given a two-year "show-cause" order, effectively banning him from coaching at NCAA schools during that time span.

Moss did not immediately return messages left by USA TODAY Sports.

According to the Committee on Infractions report, the former assistant, who was an assistant during the 2008-09 season and then briefly moved to director of basketball operations before resigning the position in August 2009, "knowingly committed violations" while recruiting three players, including travel and lodging. The report also found the former assistant committed violations after he was no longer employed by Saint Mary's. Those violations involved the placement of a transfer student from France at an area high school with the intent, according to the NCAA, that the student would play for Saint Mary's after graduation.

The recruit was not named, but published reports match the story of Remi Barry, a French transfer student who was ruled ineligible for the 2009-10 school year by the California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high school sports in the state. Barry is now a sophomore playing at New Mexico State. According to a CIF statement released in January 2010, the organization found that "a now former college basketball coach actively sought to 'shop' Mr. Barry around to several high schools."

According to the infractions report, the NCAA investigation stemmed from November 2009, when the California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high-school sport in the state, determined that a student was ineligible to play and found that the former Saint Mary's assistant had "helped place" the student at the high school "so that (the student) could be recruited to the former assistant coach's college after high school."

The former assistant was also found to have committed violations involving two other international recruits. In addition, the investigation found that Bennett knew of and failed to adequately monitor the former assistant's activities, and that he knew of impermissible offseason workouts by Saint Mary's players conducted by "outside basketball trainers and conditioning coaches."

Saint Mary's (25-5) is the defending West Coast Conference champion. Under Bennett (250-122), the program has reached the NCAA Tournament in four of the last eight seasons and has won at least 25 games in the last six seasons. Much of its success has been attributed to an influx of international players, mostly from Australia. Those include NBA player Patrick Mills and current guard Matthew Dellavedova, the reigning West Coast Conference player of the year.

Greg Sankey, the SEC's executive associate commissioner who is a member of the Committee on Infractions, said recruiting internationally requires "kind of a heightened responsibility â?¦ to ensure the proper level of oversight is in place."

The NCAA issued a notice of allegations March 5, 2012. Because of delays, the hearing with the Committee on Infractions didn't take place until Dec. 14, 2012.

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